The present invention relates generally to electromagnetic interference (EMI) protective measures and, more particularly, EMI protective measures for printed circuit boards.
Most countries have regulations that limit the amount of electromagnetic emissions that electromagnetic equipment may produce. Electromagnetic emissions are the unwanted byproduct of high-frequency electronic signals necessary, for example, to operate an electronic microprocessor or other logic circuitry. The resulting electromagnetic interference (EMI) is problematic when it interferes with licensed communications such as television, radio, air communications and navigation, safety and emergency radios, etc. This type of interference has historically been known as radio-frequency interference (RFI). See CFR 47 part 15 and ANSI publication C63.4-1992 for regulations in the United States, or CISPR publication 11 or 22 for international regulations. Also, xe2x80x9cNoise Reduction Techniques in Electronic Systemsxe2x80x9d by Henry W. Ott, serves as a comprehensive reference on the current art for the control of EMI, and the broader topic known as electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).
To meet EMI regulations, most electronic equipment currently employs a combination of two approaches commonly referred to as xe2x80x9csource suppressionxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccontainment.xe2x80x9d Source suppression attempts to design components and subsystems such that only essential signals are present at signal interconnections, and that all non-essential radio frequency (RF) energy is either not generated or attenuated before it leaves the component subsystem. Containment attempts have traditionally included placing a barrier around the assembled components, subsystems, interconnections, etc., to retain unwanted electromagnetic energy within the boundaries of the product where it is harmlessly dissipated.
This latter approach, containment, is based on a principle first identified by Michael Faraday (1791-1867), that a perfectly conducting box completely enclosing a source of electromagnetic emissions prevents those emissions from leaving the boundaries of the box. This principle is employed in shielded cables as well as in conventional shielded enclosures. Conventional shielded enclosures are typically implemented as a metal box or cabinet that encloses the equipment. The metal box is commonly referred to as a metallic cage and is often supplemented with additional features in an attempt to prevent RF energy from escaping via the power cord and other interconnecting cables. For example, a product enclosure might consist of a plastic structure with a conductive coating on the surface. This approach is commonly implemented in, for example, cell phones. More commonly, the metal enclosure is implemented as a metal cage located inside the product enclosure. Since the EMI suppression necessary for the entire product or system requires that only a portion of the product be shielded, such metallic cages are commonly placed around selected components or subsystems.
There are numerous drawbacks to the use of such metallic cages primarily relating to the lack of shielding effectiveness. Electromagnetic energy often escapes the metallic cage at gaps between the metallic cage and the printed circuit board. Electrical gaskets and spring clips have been developed to minimize such leakage. Unfortunately, such approaches have only limited success at shielding while increasing the cost and complexity of the printed circuit board. In addition, leakage occurs because the cables and wires penetrating the metallic cage are not properly bonded or filtered as they exit the metallic cage. In addition, the metallic cage creates a stagnant buffer of insulating air around the enclosed component or subsystem causing the temperature of the shielded component or subsystem to increase. In such products, the enclosure typically includes cooling apertures and fans to circulate air around the metallic cage to dissipate the heat. Further drawbacks of metallic cages include the added cost and weight to the printed circuit board assembly, as well as the limitations such metallic cages place on the package design.
In one aspect of the invention, an electrically continuous conformal EMI protective shield for conformingly adhering directly to surfaces of a printed circuit board is disclosed. The EMI protective shield comprises a dielectric coating and a conductive coating. The dielectric coating adheres directly to surfaces of the printed circuit board to provide an electrically nonconductive, contiguous coating that covers all such printed circuit board surfaces. The conductive coating comprises a substantially contiguous layer of an intrinsically conducting polymer adhering directly to surfaces of the dielectric coating to provide an electrically conductive layer that prevents the passage of electromagnetic emissions through the conformal EMI shield.
In another aspect of the invention, a printed circuit board (PCB) is disclosed. The PCB comprises a printed wiring board, a plurality of components mounted on the printed wiring board, and a conformal coating secured to surfaces of the PCB. The conformal coating comprises a conductive coating and a dielectric coating. The conductive coating substantially prevents electromagnetic waves from passing through the conformal coating. The conductive coating is conformingly and adheringly disposed on the PCB surfaces and is formed of an intrinsically conductive polymer (ICP). The dielectric coating is interposed between the conductive coating and predetermined portions of the PCB surfaces so as to completely prevent contact between the predetermined PCB portions and the conductive coating.
In a still further aspect of the invention, a method for coating a printed circuit board is disclosed. The method comprises providing a printed circuit board followed by conformingly adhering a continuous conformal coating to selected surfaces of the printed circuit board. The conformal coating comprises a dielectric coating adhering directly to surfaces of the printed circuit board to provide an electrically nonconductive, contiguous layer over all such printed circuit board surfaces. The conformal coating also comprises a conductive coating including a substantially contiguous layer of an intrinsically conducting polymer adhering directly to surfaces of the dielectric coating. The intrinsically conductive polymer provides an electrically conductive layer that prevents at least a portion of electromagnetic emissions generated remotely or by the printed circuit board from passing through the conformal EMI protective shield.